Q and A with The Sewing Circle

March 1, 2012

LOCK HAVEN - The Sewing Circle will bring its eclectic sound and set of influences to rock Avenue 209, 209 Bellefonte Ave., at 8 p.m. March 14 with Paul Diello and Darling Waste.

APRIL LINE: Discuss the high notes from the recently ended tour. Any favorite venues?

ANDREW ROHDE: The tour was a blast! I usually book all of our shows, but for this tour we had the pleasure of working with Lance from the FOCOTheory Agency. He took great care of us and got us a bunch of sweet shows. Lance is also in the band Darling Waste and a handful of the shows on the tour were with them and another great band Megaskyfish from Michigan. The three bands really hit it off well and made the shows together really fun.

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I think the show at the Rathskeller, which is inside the Kent State University student center, was my favorite show. We played really well that night and there were quite a few people out.

AL: Talk about how meeting so young as musicians has shaped your development as a band and about your current relationships.

AR: A friend let us use his basement for our first rehearsal together - we didn't have a practice space at the time. We all already knew each other though. Cajon has been a friend of my family's since grade school and Meg and I had already been working together for a few years when we hooked up with him.

The three of us have a special connection and bond. We get along really well and genuinely enjoy making music and traveling the country together. We all live in northern Ohio. Meg and I are married, so we live together, and Cajon and his wife live about 10 minutes away. Our practice schedule depends on what we have going on. If we are making a record or rehearsing for a show-tour we will play a lot more than when we are on some downtime.

AL: I read the bio on the website and I'm not clear on whether you've been playing with the drummer for all of the last four years?

AR: Meg and I released the first record in early 2008 and then our current drummer, Cajon, joined in shortly after. He toured with us through 2008 and 2009 and then played on "I Saw Stars," which was recorded at the end of 2009.

AL: How's the songwriting process going?

AR: Meg and I both write the songs. For the most part, we both like to carve out a skeleton of a song alone before playing it for the other one. After that, we will work it a little together and then at the next practice, run it by Cajon. Then it will take shape from there. I write from all different angles. Sometimes a melody in my head will kick it off, sometimes a word or a phrase.

AL: Your sound is eclectic to be sure. Talk about some of your favorite bands, musicians, heroes, influences.

AR: There is a huge range between the three of us. Some influences, include Dandy Warhol's, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Weezer, Veruca Salt, Radiohead and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

This next record is kind of being fueled by listening to darker acoustic stuff. Lots of Elliot Smith spinning on the turntable currently.

AL: The lyric, "I Can't Wait to Be a Rock Star," is contrary to your bio statement of that not really being a goal. Is the song meant as satire?

AR: Complete satire. I wanted to remind people of the darkness that is laced over the stories of rock's fallen heroes. And I wanted to contrast that discussion with the most snappy, happy, pop melody I could come up with.

AL: Do you read books? Which ones?

AR: Meg is a big fan of the "Twilight" and Sookie Stackhouse books. Her new obsession is the "Hunger Games" series.

I like textbooks. Big fan of gender studies and communications.

AL: Who does your website and social media? Talk about doing it on the road. Any great seeking Wi-Fi stories, or gadgets you love?

AR: I update the website and we all pitch in with the Facebook posts. We usually have an air card with us when we travel, so we usually always have Internet access. I find it hard to keep up with it while on the road. four or five days will go by and I will all of a sudden realize that I have not taken any video or posted anything online. Meg and Cajon are good about making quick posts from their phones, so that helps. I don't have a smartphone.